Le Jugement dernier (The Last Judgment)

Charles-Louis Hanon (1819 - 1900) was a French piano pedagogue and composer. He is best known for his work "The Virtuoso Pianist In 60 Exercises", which have become the most widely used exercises in modern piano teaching. Piano students all over the world know of Hanon’s famous training exercises for pianists. Both Sergei Rachmaninov and Josef Lhévinne claimed Hanon to be the secret of why the Russian piano school delivered an explosion of virtuosi in their time, for the Hanon exercises have been obliged for a long time throughout Russian conservatories.

"Le Jugement dernier (Grand offertoire pour une réception d'orgue)" dates from 1856 (only one year after the St. Omer organ was completed), and is dedicated: "A Mr Ferdinand de Craywinkel, Organiste-Compositeur a Bordeaux".

If you enjoy the works of Lefébure-Wely, you will probably like this, but I warn you that Lefébure-Wely's writing is quite a bit more "elevated" than much of what is in this work... ;-)

"Le Jugement dernier" is a multi-sectional opus, sort of in the style of some 19th century French opera. I, assuming that it was written for an organ dedication.

It has the typical elements of all "judgment scenes," including the last trumpet, dancing demons, prayers of the sinners, and the voice of God.

The composer, Charles-Louis Hanon was well-known for his piano technical exercises, but I'm afraid that the compositional level here doesn't rise too much above the mundane.

Still, if I were still playing weekly recitals, it's the sort of thing that I would not hesitate to include in a program, with the thought that the audience would probably enjoy it because of the colors and variety.

The score is attached below, as well as a photo of the composer.

Peace to All.